Talk:Watchman
I've just tried many, many times to use a key on a door right beside a watchman, and he didn't seem to care at all... I'm talking about the line that says that it's the same as a pick or credit card, but it doesn't seem to be. Can anyone shine some light on the darkness that is my comprehension of this conundrum? Aeronflux 20:07, 18 March 2009 (UTC) : When you pick a lock within sight of a watchman, there is a certain probability per turn that the watchman will notice you. A key takes far fewer turns than any of the other methods, so overall you are less likely to be noticed when using a key. However, the probability per turn is the same for all the methods. (I'm no good at source diving; somebody else can surely find out what the probability is.) djao 17:09, 19 March 2009 (UTC) Since you move before the monsters (including watchmen), if you unlock the door in one turn he does not see you doing it. See the unlocking tool page for all the chances, but for this discussion assume you are a non-rogue with a 10 dexterity. Your chance of unlocking a door with key is 80% each turn; it is only 30% with a lock pick. Next the watchman must see you; which means he is not blind, you are not invisible or he doesn't have see invisible, there is nothing between you blocking his sight, and I believe there is also a range element, but I couldn't figure out that part of the code. Finally, there is only a 1 out of 3 chance, !rn2(3), that he will do anything. The last part is probably there to account for the fact that he may not be looking at you even if he could see you. This all equates to a less than 7% chance of a watchman challenging a relatively low level character using a key. Skidragon 18:34, 5 July 2009 (UTC) huge alignment penalty for sacrificing watchmen As a chaotic elfish wizard, I angered the mine town watch (by force bolt), lured them to the altar, and sacrificed them. This procedure netted me a huge alignment hit. Why? As I read the spoilers, I got -1 for angering a peaceful, -3 * max(5, malign) = -3 * max(5, -2)=-15 for killing a peaceful "always peaceful" (alignment isn't updated), and finally +8 for "you feel partially absolved". In total, -8 instead of Magicbane. These guys are death traps. Tjr 23:08, July 12, 2010 (UTC) :Agreed, but I don't think the article should say not to sacrifice them, but rather not to anger them, and/or not to expect sacrifice to undo the alignment penalty. I've definitely sacrificed watchmen my pet killed, although they generally have to be in the temple to get them to the altar within 50 turns. But certainly I'd agree killing and sacrificing them is a losing proposition, especially given that they don't always leave corpses anyway. -Ion frigate 15:24, July 13, 2010 (UTC) ::The easiest way to lure them to the altar is to anger them. -1 penalty isn't too much. You need non-magic water anyway, so dig down on a fountain. (Lock up the watch captain beforehand.) Tjr 18:13, July 13, 2010 (UTC)